In the United States, where more than 36 million people require treatment for their hearing loss, only 20% actually seek help. The high out of-pocket cost of hearing assistance devices consistently shows up as one of the major obstacles to treatment. In countries where such costs are lower or nonexistent, adoption rates for hearing treatment are often between 40 and 60%. In the United States, some of the factors that drive up the cost of hearing assistance devices are diagnosis, selection, fitting, counseling, and fine tuning.
The process of purchasing and configuring a hearing assistance device is time consuming and expensive. Every patient's hearing loss is different. In many cases, people with hearing loss hear loud sounds normally but have can not detect quieter sounds. Hearing loss also varies across frequency.
No hearing aids can truly correct a hearing loss. However, the configuration of a hearing aid to the patient's needs is critical for a successful outcome. Typically, a patient visits a hearing aid specialist and receives a hearing test. Various tones are played for the patient, and the hearing aid is configured according to the patient's responsiveness to the various tones and at various sound levels.
The initial configuration of the hearing aid is usually not acceptable to the patient. The patient returns and provides feedback to the hearing aid specialist (e.g., the sound is too “tinny,” the patient cannot hear televisions at normal levels, or restaurant noise is overwhelming). The hearing aid specialist makes adjustments in the tuning of the hearing aid. Although this iterative approach can be effective, the approach is limited by the patient's ability to convey the shortcomings of the hearing aid setting with language, and the ability of the hearing aid specialists to translate that language into hearing aid settings. Often, many follow-up visits are necessary, adding cost and time to an already uncomfortable process for the patient.